TOPICS

READER GALLERIES

TOPICS

NEW PRODUCTS

IN OUR STORE

CURRENT ISSUE

Jumper

Have you seen the trailers for the film Jumper? It releases nationwide tomorrow and stars Hayden Christensen (best known for his portrayal of Anakin Skywalker in the Stars Wars series) as David Rice, a man who learns he can use wormholes to jump through the space-time fabric and teleport himself around the world. The film also features Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson, and Jamie Bell.

From what I can tell, there is plenty of action in this movie. What about the science in the sci-fi? Teleportation of humans, as seen in Jumper, is far from reality. However, in recent years, physicists have “teleported” ― transferred the crucial properties from one particle to another without physical link ― photons. This is a long way from shipping a grapefruit from point A to B. But this could be the framework to the technology that might one day allow teleportation of complex items.

I think the real issue of teleportation isn’t quantum mechanics. How would you reconstruct experience and consciousness?

What do you think? Have you seen the trailers for Jumper? Or if you are reading this after February 14, have you seen the movie? What do you think about the mechanics of teleportation?